West Lincoln Broadwell students actualize studies in comet data mission

 

[December 23, 2019] 

The sixth grade class at West Lincoln Broadwell traveled to the Challenger Learning Center (CLC) on the campus of Heartland Community College in Normal Wednesday morning. Their trip to the CLC was sponsored by the Heritage in Flight Museum through a bequest HIF received from the estate of Allan Lurie. Allan was a long-time member of Heritage in Flight, a pilot, and a teacher at Peoria Central High School.

“Dad would have been very pleased that his legacy was spent on an educational day for the students at West Lincoln Broadwell,” said his daughter Celeste Restrepo.

This year the student’s mission at CLC was rendezvous with a comet. The students were divided into two teams, one at Mission Control on Earth, and the other on the orbiting space station. The goal of the mission was to launch a probe from the space station to pass through the tail of the comet to collect information on all sorts of parameters.

The students were prepared for their day at the Challenger Learning Center by West Lincoln Broadwell science teacher Barb Bowlby and math teacher Val Mammen. “We spent three weeks in class going through the lessons that would help the students focus on their mission,” said Mrs. Mammen. Both Mrs. Bowlby and Mrs. Mammen have been through the Challenger Learning Center teacher preparation course many times, so their students are always at the top of their game when they get to CLC. And it shows.

While the main mission was the launch of the probe, the students were also engaged in other duties that were necessary for the safe and successful conclusion of the mission. They learned to work together at their tasks, how to respond to emergencies, and how to follow the detailed instructions for the successful completion of the mission.

The day was a complete success, and the students were congratulated by video by astronaut Scott Altman, a central Illinois native.

After the successful conclusion of the mission, the class took a one hour physics lesson taught by a member of the Challenger Learning Center staff.

It was a busy and exciting day for the students. A trip to the Challenger Learning Center with real life experiential problem solving situations is not your typical day in the classroom. “This is an experience our students will remember for a long time,” said Mrs. Bowlby.

On Saturday, January 11th a group of students will attend Heritage in Flight’s monthly meeting. Everyone will meet at the museum at 10 a.m. and the students will report on their space station learning experience at CLC.

[Curtis Fox]